1999-2009, La economía en diez a？os de gobierno Revolucionario

this article aims to revise and evaluate the economic policy of the current venezuelan government during the last decade. the author indicates that this year the economy will have registered the 10th successive semester of growth, a phenomenon not seen since the early sixties and early seventies. in order to evaluate government policy, it is argued that it needs to be seen in terms of a previous background period at least equally long, identifying a period of more than 15 years (1985-2001) of stagnation with the economy caught in what is characterized as a ？development trap？. it is argued that, despite the criticism one may have of government policies, the fact is that the growth experienced since 2003 has managed to escape from the trap and revert the previous tendencies.